Lakes in Canada's rapidly growing urban areas have reached a critical state, and decisions about
the best way to protect, manage, and rehabilitate urban lakes are a planning priority. Lakes are important
parts of the urban landscape that have provided local communities with a wide variety of recreational
opportunities. Deer Lake is an eighty-six acre lake located in the central portion of the City of Burnaby,
British Columbia. The relatively small shallow lake has provided swimming and fishing opportunities for
local residents since the 1950s. For the past forty years, the aesthetic qualities of Deer Lake have
progressively deteriorated to the point where aquatic, and terrestrial recreational activities are being
compromised. Burnaby's urban planners have been asked to maintain the aesthetic and biological
integrity of Deer Lake. At the same time, the planners are asked to accommodate the recreational needs
of a growing urban population. The Deer Lake Restoration and Management Committee have relied on
scientists and engineers to find the best technological alternative to restore the lake's water quality to
some pre-urban condition. Despite numerous scientific reports, city planners, and politicians are
undecided on a preferred technological water treatment alternative for Deer Lake. Controversial and
complex environmental issues, high costs, technological uncertainty, and differences in stakeholder
values have stalemated the decision making process.
The current Deer Lake planning process lacks an organizational structure that can incorporate
different stakeholder values and represent complex information in a clear and understandable way.
Value-focused thinking and multiple account analysis offers urban lake planners an integrated planning
framework that can accommodate many of the complexities involved in planning for the restoration and
management of urban lakes. Multiple account analysis assumes that economic, social and
environmental objectives should be explicitly considered in the decision making process. The crucial first
step in a multiple account evaluation is to develop and articulate a set of objectives that can then be
used to create a set of plausible alternatives. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a policy analysis for Deer Lake restoration alternatives.
The thesis employs the principles of "Value Focused Thinking" to identify, and structure the objectives of
the Deer Lake Restoration Committee. Value-based objectives are used to develop a set of alternatives.
The impacts of the selected lake restoration and management alternatives are assessed using a multiple
account analysis.
First, the problem is described, and structured with all aspects of the decision that merit
consideration. Next the process assesses the impacts of the alternatives being considered by combining
the best scientific, technical, environmental, and financial information that is available. This information
is used to assess how well the selected alternatives achieve the desired objectives.
The Deer Lake case study illustrates the benefits of using value-focused thinking and multiple
account analysis as a comprehensive decision making framework for urban lake restoration projects.
One new alternative has been created as a result of this process, and the impacts of all the proposed
alternatives have been measured with respect to the stated objectives. On the basis of available
information, this analysis predicts the probability of achieving the desired water quality standards over
the short term and long term. Perhaps the greatest analytical strength of applying this combined
approach to the Deer Lake issue is the ability to simplify complex information, and at the same time
retain enough detail to support the decision making process. Intangible social and environmental aspects
of the decision are explicitly incorporated. In the end, a compact, complete statement of objectives and
alternatives is derived from this information, which in turn provides a platform for good communication
and constructive stakeholder negotiation. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/4412 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Cherneff, M. D. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 6995919 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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